Girl murdered in Shenzhen, some on Weibo are pointing finger at social media

A tragic story has surfaced in Shenzhen that some say points to the danger of broadcasting one’s location on social media channels.

A high school student in Shenzhen named Tsang Yue Laitong was expected to return home last Saturday, and her family became concerned after she never showed up. At around 10pm that night, the 16-year old’s aunt phoned the Shenzhen police department to report her missing. She told the cops her niece had planned to meet a friend for dinner on Guanlan Street in Shenzhen but hadn’t returned.

The Shenzhen Police posted info on its Weibo account in an effort to her, as did many of her friends. Unfortunately, every parent’s worst nightmare became a reality: Tsang’s body was found in an abandoned shop about 24 hours later.

Tsang was well-liked by her classmates and teachers

Tsang’s friends and family are obviously devastated. They describe her as incredibly likeable; she was born in Zhuhai but raised in Shenzhen.

Her death is a trending topic on Weibo because she frequently used the micro-blogging service to update friends on her whereabouts. Some say posting this information so publicly can lead to trouble; however there’s no indication yet that her murderer found her through Weibo.

A group of students created a video tribute to Tsang, which can be viewed here. It has been viewed almost 50,000 times at the time of this writing.